Abbreviated Impactor Measurement (AIM) Equipment

The Abbreviated Impactor Measurement (AIM) Method implies using a shorter process to characterize aerodynamic size. It has been promoted as an alternative to the labor-intensive full resolution cascade impactor methodology for APSD (aerodynamic particle size distribution) testing.

Using an AIM methodology for early stage development has become increasingly popular as both OINDP device and drug companies look for ways to shorten drug development. This technology has traditionally been limited to early development signals indicating rough drug particle size, and this equipment is still intended to categorize the entire dosage for effective mass balance exercises.

More recently the AIM methodology has been expanded into full submissions to the FDA for approval and the resulting ongoing quality control testing. Drug manufacturers use abbreviated impactors such as the FSA (Anderson version), the FSI (fast screening impactor), and the rNGI (reduced NGI) as tools to significantly reduce the time and effort spent in test collection and analysis. By using the correlating device, the results can easily be extrapolated and transferred to the full device (i.e. FSA results are transferred to the Andersen Impactor).